Florida State Debuts at 2 in BCS Rankings

Tallahassee, FL - The Florida State football team debuted at No. 2 in the first BCS rankings of the 2013 season on Sunday night.

It’s the highest BCS ranking by the Seminoles since the final BCS poll of the 2000 season (released Dec. 3, 2000).

The Seminoles rolled to a 51-14 victory at No. 3/4 Clemson on Saturday night behind 444 passing yards and four total touchdowns from redshirt freshman quarterback Jameis Winston and three forced turnovers from senior cornerback Lamarcus Joyner.

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher appeared on ESPN’s BCS Countdown on Sunday night and talked about the ‘Noles in the polls and their performance this season. (Quotes from the show below)

Joyner Collects Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the WeekFollowing his monster game at No. 3/4 Clemson, senior cornerback Lamarcus Joyner was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week on Sunday.

Joyner forced two fumbles, snagged one interception, registered one sack and tallied eight tackles against the Tigers on Saturday night. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native forced a fumble on the first play of the game to quiet the “Death Valley” crowd and later in the first quarter sacked Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd, forcing a second fumble that was returned 37 yards for a touchdown by Mario Edwards, Jr. that gave FSU a 17-0 lead. Joyner also intercepted a Boyd pass in the second quarter.

Joyner is the fourth FSU player since 2004 (and the second in the last three weeks) to earn Walter Camp Player of the Week honors. Joyner joins Jameis Winston, who earned Offensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 6. Former Seminoles A.J. Nicholson (Sept. 18, 2005) and Everette Brown (Nov. 23, 2008) were previous Defensive Player of the Week honorees.

Winston Named Athlon Sports National Player and Freshman of the WeekRedshirt freshman quarterback Jameis Winston was named Athlon Sports National Player and National Freshman of the week after passing for a career-high 444 yards and three touchdowns against Clemson. Winston added a rushing score and his passing yardage totaled marked his third consecutive 300-yard game which tied the FSU record.

It’s Winston fourth time being named National Freshman of the Week and second time being honored as the National Player of the Week by Athlon Sports. He also captured both awards on Oct. 6.

Florida State Head Coach Jimbo Fisher BCS Countdown Transcript

On Florida State debuting at No. 2 in the BCS Rankings:“I didn’t know if we’d get quite to second – but I thought we’d be around third. I really did – maybe fourth at the lowest. But I thought we’d have a shot. I just didn’t know. I’m very happy where we are at.”

On his Reaction to the Noles being No. 2:“I kind of had to step back for a second. I knew we’d be close. We’ve had a great season – played some great opponents. That’s kind of where I thought we’d be – right there close.”

On managing hype:“I mean you have to make them aware of it because they are going to hear it every day. That’s part of this whole run of going to a national championship, playing in the big games like we did at Clemson – you gotta handle the clutter. You have to understand how to deal with it and make it reality, because they’re going to hear it. Understand that we’re there because we’ve done a great job of what we’re doing. We don’t need to stop it – preparing each week, dotting I’s, crossing T’s, being very detailed-oriented and playing one-game seasons. That’s going to be very critical down the stretch.”

On changes in BCS Rankings and addressing the team:“I will address it, but like I tell them: ‘Control things that you can control.’ That’s how we prepare and how we play, and then we’ll let the polls work themselves out in the end. We have to just play well and prepare the play well. To me, that’s the critical part. You want to always play well, but you have to have the power of preparation each week and it’s going to be very critical for us to understand that. I think the maturity of our team will kind of push that through.”

On facing NC State Saturday after the Wolfpack handed FSU its first loss in 2012:“Well you have to remember how you felt after that game, and then you can’t let it happen again and you have to understand that you have to fix that during the week. You have to prepare to play the game during the week and get your kids ready to go in the week and make sure they understand that. Don’t worry about playing the game and wanting to play hard on Saturday. That will take care of itself. The power of preparation during the week is going to be the critical point. You just remember that pain that you had, and you don’t want to deal with it again.”

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